Traditions That Feel Like Home
As the days grow shorter, the nights grow colder, and I long for that fuzzy feeling of sitting by my family’s fireplace with a cup of tea and a good book. I long for the traditions that make my family my family. Like watching The Thin Man movies, eating cracked crab on Christmas Eve, and arguing relentlessly with my siblings over inconsequential details. Traditions look different to every family, but every family knows that traditions are what make a place a home.
Dive into these cozy picture books that feel like home, and that celebrate a breadth of traditions, new and old.
While Marta, the heroine of this humorous story, is a little reluctant to take on this new task—because apparently a baby is hiding in the dessert(!)—she learns to overcome her fears and enjoy a tasty family tradition.
For some people, this food is tteokguk, a Korean rice cake soup traditionally only enjoyed on New Year’s Day, and this year, Sohee wants to eat as many bowls as she can to finally be an eonni, or “big girl.” The problem is, her mischievous little sister puts a wrench in her plans by eating ALL the tteokguk!
This sweet book doesn’t just celebrate one tradition, but a whole calendar year of Jewish traditions and holidays!Follow Beni, an adorable bear, and his family through this festive book, which includes stories, craft ideas, songs, and, of course, recipes—like a recipe for fresh honey-dipped challah to mark the new year! Because what is a festivity without food?
Mamá Goose celebrates those stories you hear as a child, those rhymes, songs, and poems you know without knowing you know. Even better, this bilingual book helps families continue their traditions in both English and Spanish.
In my opinion, all traditions should include chocolate, like in Love Like Chocolate!When the family in this book welcomes an adopted little girl to their home, her brother takes it upon himself to teach his new sister their traditions. For good days and bad, for birthdays, holidays, and everything in between, their family always celebrates with chocolate. But the boy realizes that his sister might have favorite treats of her own, and that if they work together, they can create new traditions and memories together.
Sometimes it’s those more family-specific traditions that we long for. Some families have their game nights, others have the argue-about-what-movie-to-watch nights.
For the Odenkirks, family traditions included writing poems about absolute nonsense. Years later, these poems became Zilot & Other Important Rhymes. Filled with timeless childhood activity, from building a zilot (aka a blanket fort) to being absolutely mischievous at weddings, this book of poems feels like childhood; it feels like home.
